midwife
Americannoun
plural
midwives-
a person trained to assist women in childbirth.
-
a person or thing that produces or aids in producing something new or different.
verb (used with object)
-
to assist in the birth of (a baby).
-
to produce or aid in producing (something new).
to midwife a new generation of computers.
noun
Etymology
Origin of midwife
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English midwif, from mid “with, accompanying” ( Old English; see also meta-) + wif “woman” ( Old English wīf; see wife)
Explanation
A midwife is someone whose job involves helping women give birth to babies. Some pregnant women get their prenatal care from a midwife, as well as delivering their babies with a midwife's help. There are different categories of midwives — lay midwives attend home births, and nurse midwives also assist birthing women at hospitals and birth centers. In either case, a midwife is trained to understand the process of birth and techniques to make it easier and safe for mothers and newborn babies. Midwife literally means "woman who is with," or "woman assisting," from the Middle English mid, "with," and wif, "woman."
Vocabulary lists containing midwife
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
As Alanna Skuse writes in “The Surgeon, the Midwife, and the Quack,” in the Renaissance, “health begins at home.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 6, 2026
The “Call the Midwife Holiday Special 2025,” like its many predecessors, is humming with catastrophe, a virtual Santa’s workshop of traumatic events.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 23, 2025
Stars who appear in continuing dramas such as Death in Paradise, Waterloo Road, Casualty, EastEnders and Call The Midwife also do not appear.
From BBC • Jul. 14, 2025
The BBC has announced plans to make a Call the Midwife film and prequel TV series set during the Second World War.
From BBC • May 6, 2025
Alyce had washed Alyce Little and wrapped her in clean linen and laid her in her father’s arms before Jane the Midwife bustled up the path and into the cottage.
From "The Midwife's Apprentice" by Karen Cushman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
